Abstract
After the end of World War II, the Republic of Korea (ROK), having gained independence from Japan, established a new ROK Armed Forces under the guidance and advice of the U.S. Military Advisory Group to the ROK. In Japan, against the backdrop of its Constitution, which maintains that the nation will never possess a military, the outbreak of the Korean War prompted the expedited establishment of the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) under the guidance and advice of the U.S. Military Advisory Group to Japan. In this way, the activities of the U.S. military advisory groups played a significant role in the creation of the ROK Armed Forces and the JSDF. Nevertheless, there some differences in their activities in Japan and the ROK, because of the international and domestic political situations in which in the two countries found themselves, the intentions and motives on the part of the United States, among other reasons. Specifically, the two countries differed in their processes of accepting advisory groups, the U.S. involvement in the formation of the concept behind the establishment of a military force, the organization of the advisory groups, and their activities. In short, in the ROK, the military organization of a new nation had to be built from zero, and therefore, the U.S. military advisory group was proactively involved in all aspects of the establishment of the ROK Armed Forces, ranging from its organization, personnel, quartermaster’s affairs, schooling and training, to its maneuvers. In Japan, on the other hand, out of consideration for its Constitution and Japan’s sovereignty, the U.S. military advisory group, while keeping its activities in check, indirectly supported the establishment of the JSDF that would be suitable for a free and democratic nation and was contrary to the former Imperial Army of Japan.
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